Etta
Etta is a prostitute in Divvytown who later becomes the mistress of the pirate Kennit. Character Etta is tall, thin, and short-haired. She is a proficient seamstress, and sews herself practical yet gaudy clothing for sailing. She wears a ruby earring she received from Kennit in one ear. Etta is remarkably bold and vicious, especially where Kennit is concerned. She has no qualms about maiming, torturing, or killing prisoners for information or simple revenge. Despite this, Kennit's crew respects and is even shown to be fond of her. Events Sometime before the start of Ship of Magic, Kennit began to frequent the Divvytown brothel where Etta lived and worked, eventually visiting Etta to the exclusion of the other prostitutes. Ship of Magic When Kennit visits Etta, she informs him that she is well-known as his semi-exclusive property, having acquired the nickname "Kennit's whore." Kennit gifts her with the ruby earring he obtained from Other's Island. Later, Etta is brutalized by a group of men from the ship Sea Vixen, who stage an ambush for Kennit at her brothel. Etta assists Kennit in killing the would-be assassins. She is brought aboard the Marietta by Kennit, a gesture which she interprets as an expression of love. Etta quickly adapts to life on the Marietta, winning over the crew and convincing Kennit of her worth as a pirate. She begins to feel satisfied by her control over her new life. When the Marietta attempts to capture the slaver Sicerna, the crews are attacked by a sea serpent. Kennit's leg is bitten, and to save his life, Etta quickly cuts it off. When Kennit captures the Vivacia, Etta is dismayed by his flirting with the ship, and begins to grow jealous of her. Ship of Destiny Following the advice of Bolt, Etta becomes secretly pregnant with Kennit's child, and looks to Wintrow for council. He tells her that the greatest gift her baby will ever have is that Etta loves him for who he is, and that the worth of her child will come as much from her as from Kennit. After Kennit is killed, Etta goes to Wintrow and tells him she doesn't want to raise the baby on her own. Wintrow is told shortly after by Amber that the child will belong to he who takes him, not makes him, and that Etta may come to him in time, although it's more likely that she'll always be Kennit's. Just before he dies, Kennit asks Etta to name their unborn child Paragon, after his family liveship - fulfilling a promise he made to the original Paragon when he was a little boy himself - and gives her his wizardwood charm. It pretends thereafter to be Kennit's spirit, comforting and reassuring Etta when she is unsure of herself, and making her believe that a part of Kennit is still with her. Relationships Kennit Etta initially hates Kennit and the emotions he produces in her. She is cold to him and makes no attempts to fake enthusiasm. Kennit enjoys her honesty, and in turn Etta grows to appreciate his business-like approach to their interactions. By the start of Ship of Magic, Etta has developed feelings for Kennit. Her feelings are encouraged by their private interactions, where she is often surprised and pleased at Kennit's romantic behavior. Unbeknownst to her, many of these moments are engineered by Kennit's wizardwood charm, and many of Kennit's kinder words to her are actually spoken by the charm. Wintrow Vestrit Etta initially dislikes Wintrow Vestrit, as she believes they are too different to understand one another and she is jealous of how affectionate Kennit is towards him. She knows nothing of Kennit's past and so she doesn't understand the connection between pirate and boy. She doesn't trust Wintrow to deal with Kennit's leg but she allows it because Kennit doesn't give her any choice. Wintrow fully expects to die at her hand if he fails and Kennit dies. She slowly becomes friends with Wintrow, and feels lucky that she was given him to befriend, and Kennit to love. She teaches Wintrow to fight, giving him a knife that belonged to Kennit, and is distraught when he is burned by She Who Remembers. Nonetheless, she is often harsh or horrible to him when he is attempting to teach her to read, or when he dares to speak against something Kennit said. Wintrow develops a crush on Etta and becomes jealous of what he believes Kennit has found in her. He kisses her, and when Etta accuses him of betraying Kennit's trust, he tells her that it was nothing to do with Kennit but rather about what he wished was between them but isn't. When she tells him that she doesn't believe she deserves Kennit, he tells her that she should find Etta's destiny in Etta, rather than hoping Kennit would impregnate her with it.Category:People Category:The Liveship Traders Trilogy Category:Pirates Category:The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy